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Major renovations coming to HRV athletic facilities

File photo by Ben Mitchell
Henderson Stadium is undergoing renovations in the spring of 2018 and will sideline any spring and summer sports/activities at Henderson. Andrew Gino (24) and the rest of HRV’s lacrosse team will be playing their home games elsewhere (TBD) this season.

Once the spring season starts for HRV athletics in April, both the track and main field at Henderson Stadium will be unavailable as the renovation for a new track surface and synthetic turf field begin.

The change to the area means that HRV lacrosse and track and field are without a home field for the 2018 season.

“This is both exciting and difficult at the same time,” said HRV’s Athletic Director Tom Ames. “I’m going to lean on excited and accept the short-term pain for the long-term gain that will make HRV a potential showcase for our area.”

Again, the short-term pain for HRV athletics will be losing an entire home season for the sports that use the stadium in the spring, and with the news that this project begins in April, there are a lot of practices and games that will need to be adjusted.

However, it’s been stressed that the long-term goal of making this stadium “a potential showcase for our area,” outweighs the potential losses.

This project is prioritized around reconstructing the track and main field at Henderson Stadium, but it may have a chance to go beyond these two things.

The Henderson Stadium project could potentially remodel the whole spectator and athletic experience.

Items not prioritized at this point that could be brought to the Henderson Stadium project: new ticket booths at the front gate and a quality entrance; a track storage building that opens onto the track at the finish line, with a timing and camera booth on the second level; room for hurdles, mats, starting blocks, rakes, tools and other miscellaneous items; new hurdles with carts; carts for jump pads; an upgraded storage for football at the practice field; covers for the track to protect it from benches, shoes and walk overs; a new concession stand off the northwest corner of the track that includes space for Boosters and a potential cover for barbeque and FFA area; lighting along the Science Building path and along North path inside the facility; a modern lighting system on the existing poles; upgraded scoreboard and controllers; and renovations to visitor grandstands and restrooms.

Other renovations on the school grounds include a small storage building on the south end of the home baseball dugout and a ramp and walkway around back of bleachers and stairs with rails up to bleacher pad.

The best way to go about this project is with the help from the local community on top of the efforts from bonds, grants and bonus money.

This is just the beginning draft of the proposed project, but it doesn’t seem to be a stretch to say that many of these issues have the chance to be a part of the final plan.

“My hope is that we can create some enthusiasm, gather some info and create a committee to help make this project a great one,” said Ames. “If people are looking for a way to help HRV athletics in a big way, this is the project and the time is now while we’re doing the work.”

On Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. there will be a meeting open for ideas and thoughts about the proposal for the Henderson Stadium project in either the Bowe Theater or the HRVHS library.

Again, as of now the Henderson Stadium project and its ideas are all just a draft, but things will be finalized within the upcoming months.